OurStory

Kevin Upson and Sherry Hammond met at the Scott Air Force Base, Illinois "MAC" Terminal. Both were active duty military at the time and were catching a free trip aboard a scheduled Air Force flight in order to get to the west coast. Kevin was going to visit his brother who was living in California and Sherry was returning to her duty station in Hawaii after attending her brother's wedding.

They started talking and hit it off right away. It was like they had known each other forever. They discussed anything and everything. During the puddle jumps the plane took over the next several hours, they got to know each other. So, when they landed at McChord AFB in Washington State, they each checked into Billeting (kind of like a military run hotel) and agreed to meet for dinner.

Their first date was at the Harbor Lights Steakhouse on Puget Sound. After dinner, they decided to go see a movie. It got out late and the taxi they tried to take back to the base couldn't seem to find where he was going. They got back to base around 1 or 1:30 am. Their "showtime" to try and get a space on the next flight to Travis AFB in Oakland, CA, was at 4:30 am. They decided to just stay up all night, rather than just get to sleep in time to wake up. They really had a blast and enjoyed being around each other.

They both made the flight. They each checked into the Billeting there and Kevin called his brother to come get him (a 3 hour drive or so). They wandered around the base and ended up at the USO waiting for his brother. The two of them left and Sherry waited three more days to catch a flight back to Hawaii.

At this time, Kevin was stationed in Panama. The two kept in touch with cards, letters and very expensive phone calls. Then, after almost a year, Kevin was transferred to Ft. Lee, VA and the phone calls were a bit less expensive... Nineteen months after they met, Kevin flew to Hawaii at the end of November and left about six days later. He proposed marriage over dinner at the Spaghetti Factory; Sherry accepted. She got the ring in the mail three weeks later!

The date was set for March. Kevin would have a few days of leave between leaving Ft. Lee and arriving for his new station in South Korea. They got married in on the beach at the base of Diamond Head in Hawaii in March of 1995. Eight days after the ceremony, Kevin left for a 17 month tour in South Korea. Sherry finished her term of service in October and returned to live near her family in North Georgia until Kevin's return.

In September of 1996, the newlyweds headed for their first home together in Darmstadt, Germany, where Kevin worked for an Air Defense Artillery unit. We loved our travels around the surrounding countries. We enjoyed the beautiful German countryside. We lived there for almost three years. When we left in June of 1999, we were six months pregnant with Hunter.

Hunter was born by emergency C-Section in Honolulu, Hawaii in September of 1999. He was a beautiful, healthy 8 lbs 6.4 oz, 19.25" long baby. His first two months were rough, as he had acid reflux. Once that was under control, he became the happiest baby. He was always curious. Eyes wide open, taking in the world.

Kevin and Sherry were having some problems between them and separated in December of 2000. Sherry and Hunter moved back to North Georgia and Kevin stayed in Hawaii, finishing his tour with the Central Identification Laboratories on Hickam Air Force Base. He loved his job of going out and finding our missing in action. He helped bring back the remains of over 40 of our fallen servicemen.

During the separation, Sherry went to school full time (2001-2002) at Reinhardt College in Waleska, GA. Going to school as a "thirty-something" was so much more interesting than going as an 18 year old! It was a blast!

Kevin got sent to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in June of 2002, where he attended the Command and General Staff Officer College. Sherry and Hunter joined him in October.

Our Valentine's Day present for 2003 was the revelation that we were expecting our second child, due 23 Oct 2003. We were ecstatic. Audrey Grace was born by planned C-section on 15 Oct 2003 at the University of North Carolina's Women's Hospital. She was delivered by Dr. John Thorp, a wonderful man and fabulous doctor. Please follow her link to see our Trisomy 18 Journey.

Today, we are as "normal" as we dare to be. Kevin is in the Army at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, NC. Hunter is now in Kindergarten, making lots of friends and having a blast. He is learning to read at lightning speed! We had almost seven months with Audrey and for that we are eternally grateful. She was a light and a joy. We are trying to deal with life without our little girl. We are attempting to keep some sort of a routine for Hunter. The house is never in "perfect" order and sometimes we are at our wit's end, but with tons of prayer, we press on and trust God to get us through.

Thanks for visiting us. This is my first attempt at a webpage of any kind, so please be patient as I attempt to get it up and going!

Living Firmly in God's Grip,

Kevin, Sherry, Hunter and Audrey